Intelligent towelette elevating pop-up dispensing system

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to the dispensing of towelettes from a pop-up towelette dispensing system. Towelettes are used for a variety of cleansing tasks in the home and in industry, in addition to use on the human body such as during the process of changing an infant&#39;s diaper. According to the present invention, reliable pop-up dispensing of towelettes is provided through the use of an intelligent towelette elevating system for automatically positioning a stack of towelettes within a predefined distance of a dispensing aperture of a dispensing container, and automatically counteracting the weight of a stack of towelettes.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.60/522,353, filed on Sep. 19, 2004. The disclosure of the aboveapplication is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Towelettes, such as well known Wet Wipes, are consumer products commonlyprovided in a single handed, or sometimes called one at a time, or othertimes called pop-up dispensing system comprising of a stack ofrectangular-shaped, moistened and interfolded sheets packaged in arefillable moisture impervious container. Towelettes have been made froma variety of materials and moistened with a variety of aqueous solutionsfor use in cleaning surfaces both animate and inanimate in the home andin industry.

One particular application is the use of towelettes for cleansing aninfant's anal, perineal and genital body parts when changing a diaper.Typically, pop-up towelette dispensing systems have been designed toprovide single towelette dispensing with the use of one hand. When atowelette is removed from the container, another towelette should beautomatically staged for easy removal. This is accomplished by theconfiguration of the interfolded stack of towelettes in conjunction withthe dispensing aperture of the dispensing container. This isparticularly important in this application since one hand is typicallyrestraining an infant while the other hand is obtaining a towelette andperforming the cleansing.

One problem with pop-up towelette dispensing systems on the market isthat when a towelette is removed from the dispensing container andanother towelette fails to automatically stage for easy removal. Theproblem increases in occurrence as the distance between the dispensingaperture of the dispensing container and the next to be staged forremoval towelette increases. This scenario is particularly sensitivewhen a consumer has only one hand available for the retrieval of atowelette, such as during the process of changing an infant's diaper. Itis awkward for a consumer to probe through a dispensing aperture or opena container lid to manually stage the next towelette.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In various embodiments of the present invention, a system is providedthat automatically positions and counteracts the weight of a stack oftowelettes within a dispensing container. The system automaticallypositions a stack of towelettes such that a next to be staged forremoval towelette is positioned within a predefined distance of adispensing aperture of a dispensing container that retains a stack oftowelettes. Positioning the next to be staged towelette within apredefined distance and counteracting the weight of the remaining stackof towelettes assures that when the preceding towelette is removed, thenext to be staged towelette is properly and reliably staged within thedispensing container aperture. The intelligent towelette elevatingsystem continues to automatically position and counteract the weight ofthe remaining stack of towelettes so that each subsequent next to bestaged towelette is properly and reliably staged within the aperturethroughout the diminishing capacity of the stack.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Several embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the followingdrawings. The drawings are merely representative and are not intended tolimit the scope of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a partially cut away perspective illustration of anintelligent towelette elevating system supporting a near empty stack oftowelettes within a pop-up towelette dispensing system.

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional illustration of an intelligent toweletteelevating system in a compressed state within a pop-up towelettedispensing system due to the force exerted by the weight of a full stackof towelettes.

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional illustration of an intelligent toweletteelevating system in an extended state within a pop-up towelettedispensing system due to the force exerted by the weight of a near emptystack of towelettes.

FIG. 4 is a perspective illustration of an intelligent toweletteelevating system in an extended state.

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional illustration of an intelligent toweletteelevating system in a compressed state.

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional illustration of an intelligent toweletteelevating system in an extended state.

FIG. 7 is a front perspective illustration of an alternate intelligenttowelette elevating system in an extended state.

FIG. 8 is a front perspective illustration of an alternate intelligenttowelette elevating system in an extended state.

FIG. 9 is a front perspective illustration of an alternate intelligenttowelette elevating system in an extended state.

FIG. 10 is a front perspective illustration of an intelligent toweletteelevating pop-up dispensing system in an empty state, or devoid of astack of towelettes.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many differentforms, there is shown in the drawings, and will herein be described indetail, a preferred embodiment of the invention with the understandingthat the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification ofthe principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the broadaspect of the invention to the embodiment illustrated.

Referring to FIG. 1, the present invention is an intelligent toweletteelevating system 1 for a pop-up towelette dispensing system. Theintelligent towelette elevating system 1 is most suited for pop-uptowelette dispensing systems, although nothing prevents application ofthis invention to other towelette dispensing systems.

As previously stated, pop-up towelette dispensing is intended to beaccomplished by the configuration of an interfolded stack of towelettes6 in conjunction with a dispensing aperture 5 of a dispensing container4. There are two main principals that should be observed to accomplishreliable pop-up towelette dispensing. First, the distance between theleading edge of the next to be staged towelette and the dispensingaperture 5 of the dispensing container 4 should be minimized and lessthan the unfolded length of the towelette to assure proper stagingwithin the dispensing aperture 5. And second, the adhesion level betweenthe preceding towelette removed from the dispensing container 4 and thenext to be staged for removal towelette needs to be greater than theadhesion level between the next to be staged for removal towelette andthe remainder of the stack of towelettes 6.

FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate the use of the intelligent towelette elevatingsystem 1 within a pop-up towelette dispensing system throughout thediminishing capacity of a stack of towelettes 6. Both principles, asstated above, are observed to accomplish reliable pop-up towelettedispensing. First, the intelligent towelette elevating system 1automatically positions a stack of towelettes 6 such that the next to bestaged for removal towelette is positioned within a minimized andpredefined distance of the dispensing aperture 5 of the dispensingcontainer 4. And second, the intelligent towelette elevating system 1automatically assures the adhesion level between the preceding toweletteremoved from the dispensing container 4 and the next to be staged forremoval towelette will be greater than the adhesion level between thenext to be staged for removal towelette and the remainder of the stackof towelettes 6. This is facilitated by neutralizing the force exertedby the weight of the stack of towelettes 6, and thereby lessening theadhesive level between the next to be staged for removal towelette andthe remainder of the stack of towelettes 6. The intelligent toweletteelevating system 1 will automatically reposition and counteract theweight of a stack of towelettes 6 throughout its diminishing capacity.

Referring to FIGS. 4, 5, and 6, the intelligent towelette elevatingsystem 1 has a surface 2 that is sized and shaped to function as a guidefor a stack of towelettes 6 towards a dispensing aperture 5 of adispensing container 4 within a pop-up towelette dispensing system.Attached to the surface 2 is a pair of resilient appendages 3. Tworesilient appendages 3 extend from the surface 2 at predefined locationssuch that the pair of resilient appendages 3 cooperates to horizontallylevel the surface 2. The resilient appendages 3 are sized and shaped tofunction within towelette dispensing systems and are biased to exert avariable force perpendicular to the surface 2 and dependent on thecompression height of the intelligent towelette elevating system 1. Themaximum force exerted by the sum of the resilient appendages 3 isapproximately that of the force exerted by the weight of a full stack oftowelettes 6. This allows the intelligent towelette elevating system 1to be almost fully compressed under the weight of a full stack oftowelettes 6, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, and almost fully extended underthe weight of a near empty stack of towelettes 6, as shown in FIGS. 3and 6.

In the preferred embodiment, the intelligent towelette elevating system1 is comprised of two resilient appendages 3 attached and extending froma surface 2. However, nothing should be construed to limit theinvention. Any number of surfaces and appendages may be implementedwithin the intelligent towelette elevating system 1 without departingfrom the scope of the present invention. For example, two surfaces 10and four appendages 11 could be another configuration, as shown in FIG.7. Another configuration could be detachable appendages 15 that employother resilient components 16 for exertion of the variable force, asshown in FIG. 8. Still another configuration could be replacing thedefined surface 2 of the preferred embodiment with the outer surfaces 20of one continuous appendage 21 alone, as shown in FIG. 9.

In the preferred embodiment, the intelligent towelette elevating system1 is depicted as being a separate entity inserted into a pop-uptowelette dispensing system. Alternatively, the intelligent toweletteelevating system 1 could be integrated into a pop-up towelettedispensing system to create an intelligent towelette elevating pop-updispensing system 25, as shown in FIG. 10, comprising of resilientappendages 27 extending from a dispensing container 26.

What is claimed is:
 1. An intelligent towelette elevating dispensingsystem for pop-up towelette dispensing comprising a dispensingcontainer, said dispensing container comprising a stack of towelettes,said dispensing container comprising an upper portion and a lowerportion, said upper portion comprising a dispensing aperture, said lowerportion comprising an intelligent towelette elevating system, saidintelligent towelette elevating system comprising a surface, orplurality of surfaces, and a resilient appendage, or plurality ofresilient appendages.
 2. An intelligent towelette elevating dispensingsystem according to claim 1, wherein said intelligent toweletteelevating system automatically positions a stack of towelettes such thatthe next to be staged for removal towelette is positioned within aminimized and predefined distance of the dispensing aperture of thedispensing container.
 3. An intelligent towelette elevating dispensingsystem according to claim 1, wherein said intelligent toweletteelevating system automatically assures the adhesion level between thepreceding towelette removed from the dispensing container and the nextto be staged for removal towelette will be greater than the adhesionlevel between the next to be staged for removal towelette and theremainder of the stack of towelettes by neutralizing the force exertedby the weight of the stack of towelettes, and thereby lessening theadhesive level between the next to be staged for removal towelette andthe remainder of the stack of towelettes.
 4. An intelligent toweletteelevating dispensing system according to claim 1, wherein said surface,or plurality of surfaces of the intelligent towelette elevating systemfunction as a guide for a stack of towelettes towards the dispensingaperture of the dispensing container.
 5. An intelligent toweletteelevating dispensing system according to claim 1, wherein said resilientappendage, or plurality of resilient appendages of the intelligenttowelette elevating system exert a variable force dependent on theamount of their compression and that the maximum force exerted by thesum of the resilient appendages is approximately that of the forceexerted by the weight of a full stack of towelettes.
 6. An intelligenttowelette elevating system for use in a pop-up towelette dispensingsystem. An intelligent towelette elevating system comprising a surface,or plurality of surfaces, and a resilient appendage, or plurality ofresilient appendages.
 7. An intelligent towelette elevating systemaccording to claim 6, wherein said intelligent towelette elevatingsystem automatically positions a stack of towelettes such that the nextto be staged for removal towelette is positioned within a minimized andpredefined distance of the dispensing aperture of the dispensingcontainer.
 8. An intelligent towelette elevating system according toclaim 6, wherein said intelligent towelette elevating systemautomatically assures the adhesion level between the preceding toweletteremoved from the dispensing container and the next to be staged forremoval towelette will be greater than the adhesion level between thenext to be staged for removal towelette and the remainder of the stackof towelettes by neutralizing the force exerted by the weight of thestack of towelettes, and thereby lessening the adhesive level betweenthe next to be staged for removal towelette and the remainder of thestack of towelettes.
 9. An intelligent towelette elevating systemaccording to claim 6, wherein said surface, or plurality of surfaces ofthe intelligent towelette elevating system function as a guide for astack of towelettes towards the dispensing aperture of the dispensingcontainer.
 10. An intelligent towelette elevating system according toclaim 6, wherein said resilient appendage, or plurality of resilientappendages of the intelligent towelette elevating system exert avariable force dependent on the amount of their compression and that themaximum force exerted by the sum of the resilient appendages isapproximately that of the force exerted by the weight of a full stack oftowelettes.